Rebranding is something that, at some point, every business will at least consider and often go through with. As your company grows, ideas change, your direction might be different, perhaps your old designs now seem out of date, and you’re worried they won’t attract the audience you need anymore. Whatever the reason, a rebrand is not something to take lightly; there is a lot to consider, and you’ll need to ensure you get it right. Changing a recognized brand can be risky, and if the new design is not received well, you will have wasted money and potentially alienate customers. Here are some top tips to make sure you get your rebranding right the first time.
Don’t Go It Alone
When you are rebranding your business, don’t try to do it independently; it’s always best to have a professional agency involved, such as Anthem Branding. If you try to do it by yourself, you’ll find that you’re far too involved and invested in the business to come up with any meaningful ideas. Plus, unless you’re a branding expert, you won’t know what will appeal to the customers you want to attract, and you won’t know what the current trends are.
Finding someone to help you when you are rebranding means that you can leave the experts to the job while you continue to build the business in other ways, taking the burden from you and making the entire idea less stressful.
Carry Out Market Research
Market research is an important element of any big business decision, and your rebranding is no different. You need to ensure that the branding ideas you have will resonate with your target audience and make them want to buy from you. You’ll also need to check that the branding ideas you have are different enough and stand out enough to be memorable.
When you are carrying out this market research – or when your branding company is doing it on your behalf – you’ll need to know who your target market is, to begin with, so this is an ideal time to reassess this and ensure you are marketing to the right people in general. A target audience can change as a business evolves, which is one reason why a rebrand might be needed in the first place.
What Makes You Different?
Your brand is really a distilled version of your company’s aims and what it stands for when you think about it. It’s a shorthand way to tell people who you are and what you do. With this in mind, it’s always a good idea for your branding to show how you’re different from your competitors. So, what is it that makes you different? Discovering this and incorporating it into your branding – if appropriate – means that you can help more customers understand why they should be buying from you rather than anyone else.
To do this, think about any aspect of your business that no one else can copy. This, combined with the emotional needs your business fulfills for your customers, is your USP, and it is this that your branding should ideally represent.